Defaming a fellow public official’s good name is difficult to fight in a court of law, I suppose, which might explain why we haven’t seen many defamation lawsuits filed in this age of extreme political anger and vilification.
I mention this because of the hideous lie that U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, a Republican, said regarding fellow Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat.
Jackson put a tweet out there that accused Porter of saying that pedophilia isn’t a crime. She didn’t say that. She said nothing of the sort. Porter said gays have been treated unfairly as pedophiles and “groomers.”
Has Jackson, the GOP rep who lives in Amarillo — the city I once called home — apologized to Porter? Hah! Nope.
That brings to mind the hideous statements that have flown from the pie holes of the QAnon/MAGA cabal of public officials. They have accused high-ranking Democrats of peddling children for sex. Yes, there have been lawsuits and the victims of that hideous epithet have won judgments.
Jackson needs to be slapped with a lawsuit for the constant barrage of moronic messages he has fired off via Twitter on any number of Democrats. The guy is a disgrace to the office he occupies and to the governing body where he serves.
What’s more, the overwhelming majority of Twitter messages that come from Jackson seek to denigrate those on the other side of the great divide. Any constructive notion, any positive comments about legislation he either authors or supports are not to be found.
All of this is my way of suggesting that those he denigrates — such as Rep. Porter — ought to ponder whether it’s wise to take this clown to court. To put words in someone’s mouth for the purpose of embarrassing her, as he did with Katie Porter, surely can be grounds for defamation.